Career Atlas

Nuclear Physicists vs Materials Scientists

Compare Nuclear Physicists and Materials Scientists side by side: median pay, job outlook, AI exposure, education, and top skills. Nuclear Physicists pays about $54k more.

Nuclear Physicists

Median pay$172k
OutlookGrowing fast
AI exposureHigh 82%, modeled
EducationDoctoral
ScienceReading ComprehensionMathematicsSpeakingCritical Thinking

Materials Scientists

Median pay$118k
OutlookGrowing fast
AI exposureHigh 88%, modeled
EducationDoctoral
Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningScienceCritical ThinkingWriting
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Pay and outlook: BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2024-2034). Skills: O*NET 30.3. AI exposure is a modeled estimate. How we model AI exposure.